The present invention relates generally to disposable undergarments, and in particular, to an undergarment including one or more components with a discontinuity, such as a slit or cutout, and to the method for the manufacture thereof.
Disposable undergarments can be configured in many different forms. For example, disposable absorbent garments can be configured as a pant-type, pull-on garment, or as a diaper-type product that is drawn up between the legs and fastened about the waist with various fastening systems. Typically, the undergarment includes a body chassis, which is secured to the body of the user. In some embodiments, the disposable garment includes a front and rear body panel connected to an absorbent insert. Often, the absorbent insert is secured to a bodyside surface of the body panels, or is sandwiched between a body panel and an outer cover, which body panels and/or outer cover restrict the ability of the absorbent insert to expand away from the body of the user.
Often, one or more components of the body chassis, such as the outer cover, are made from a single piece of material, with leg openings cut therein, for example by die cutting. The material from the leg cut out, which can account for as much as 20-30% of the total area of the outer cover, typically is waste material, which must be disposed of or recycled. In addition, the size of the leg openings formed by a die cutter in a conventional one-piece outer cover is typically fixed. As such, it can be expensive and time consuming, and reduces the overall flexibility of the manufacturing line, to switch dies and alter the process to manufacture different size garments.
In response to this problem of waste, some garments are configured with front and rear sections formed from a single web that is divided into two nested halves, as disclosed for example in U.S. Pat. No. 5,858,151 and Japanese Patent Application 03-176053 A. However, the webs of the U.S. Pat. No. 5,858,151 have overlapping crotch portions that are directly secured one to the other. Accordingly, the overall rise of the garment is not readily varied to accommodate different size users, and the range of sizes is limited by the extent of the overlapping regions.
The diaper body of Japanese Patent Application 03-176053 A requires the two webs to be shifted in the machine direction, with a diaper body then positioned over opposed recesses formed in the front and back waistband. The diaper body, however, is secured to the body side surface of the waistbands. As such, the waistbands can restrict the ability of diaper body to expand away from the body of the user.
In addition, some disposable undergarments are made of one or more elastic materials laminated to a non-elastic material. In some garments, slits are provided in one of the layers, e.g., the non-elastic material, to allow the laminate to expand, but the slit does not provide a discontinuity through the entire laminate or the layer of elastic material. In other undergarments, an elastic material, such as a top sheet that extends the length of the garment, is provided with slits that open to permit the passage of exudates therethrough.